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14, 15, and 16 weeks

Here I am again, posting a tardy and boring update. The second trimester has proven to be about as uneventful as the first. But less exciting. I hear stories of women who just felt like they were walking on air during pregnancy, so thankful to be growing a new life, feeling so healthy and vibrant. I hear about the energy boost they get after about 13 weeks that leaves them feeling refreshed and inspired. I hear about so many women who LOVED that during pregnancy they felt no guilt about eating an extra cookie, enjoying chocolate milkshakes, or helping themselves to seconds of every meal, because this was the time in their lives when they had the ultimate excuse – pregnancy.

Me? I’m just sort of … bored. Don’t get me wrong, I’m VERY happy to be pregnant, but I don’t have any of those whimsical and magical feelings or experiences that everyone seems to describe. I feel fine. Mostly great. Slightly constipated and occasionally tired, but generally very normal.

I keep telling myself that this little adventure will get more exciting when I can tell that this bulge around my belly button is BABY and not BROWNIES. I also look forward to feeling him/her move in there. I had one little flutter when I was lying in bed at the 16-week mark that felt slightly different than gas. That might have been it. But 4 days later, and I haven’t noticed a similar feeling.

I know I’ll probably look back and wish I had cherished this time more. I’ll probably feel like it flew by and wish that I had paid more attention or slowed down to smell the pregnancy flowers. But right now, I’m wishing it to hurry up.

More awkward half-nude photos. 15 weeks.

Trying not to feel like this is weirddd.

As far as the day-to-day, I’m still wearing my normal clothes, though a few pair of pants are probably too tight at the waistband for me to reasonably squeeze into. I’m still going to the gym 5-6 days a week and walking a few miles each day between dog walks, walking to work, and some lunchtime strolls. I can tell that I am getting weaker and have less endurance. Food is all still the same as before pregnancy – I eat a lot and love it all. As has been true since the beginning, I crave sweet, starchy foods like cinnamon rolls and doughnuts 24/7. I’ve gained between 8-10 pounds, I think, and I blame it all on desserts. I can see the weight in a thickening layer of fat around my thighs, midsection, and upper arms. While I have been eating my normal fruit/nut/whole grain/bean/vegetable/cheese diet, I’ve added in more calories for desserts. And I am annoyed at myself for doing so, but my willpower is diminished.

Sleep has also been pretty normal, and I get around 8 hours each night. I have been plagued with a middle-of-the-night wake-up in which I can lay in bed for an hour or two pondering all sorts of irrelevant and interesting things. Luckily, that doesn’t happen more than a couple of times a week.

We continue to ski most weekends, go to the movies, have dinner with friends, and watch a lot of Netflix in the evenings. I’m sure that in 6-8 months, we’ll look back at this life and think about how leisurely, peaceful, indulgent, or maybe even boring it was. We’re enjoying our time together, and I do have a haunting reminder that it is limited, knowing that our lives will soon be turned upside down.

We have still only purchased a few clothing items that I found on clearance online. We are minimalist and hope NOT to have a bunch of gear/furniture/clothes/toys specifically for baby. For one thing, we can’t fit it. For another, both of us HATE clutter and will happily purge nearly anything in our paths in order to gain more simplicity. My mom keeps reminding me that people WANT to get you gifts, but I keep telling her that we don’t WANT any gifts. I know that she and my aunts/friends will win this battle. I just hope that we can channel their sweet sentiments into something useful, instead of a bunch of adorable outfits that only get worn once or blinking, bouncing, bright bobbles that nobody needs.

Skiing, a few weeks ago.

Our ridiculous dog, who believes she is entitled to all the snuggles, all the blankets, and as much space on the couch as she desires.

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8 responses

You look great! I too have no willpower when it comes to desserts 😉 it’s great you’re continuing to eat well in the meals before dessert, bright side 🙂 I fantasize all of the time about what my attitude toward pregnancy will be like when I get there, it’ll be interesting to see what it’s like!

Thank you! I imagined I would be a much more carefree, glowing pregnant lady. The mental challenge of trying to accept your increasing weight while also making good choices for baby, despite crazy cravings, has been difficult!!

You look great! Are you vegetarian? Is m, but have found myself really craving meat a couple times. I ate turkey at Christmas and have eaten Ham a couple times as well. Feel pretty guilty about it, but I also felt good after eating it. Food cravings are weird.

My midwives keep trying to convince me to eat meat, but I’m a lifelong vegetarian. With that said, yesterday I got a craving for bacon (ok when I said ‘lifelong,’ I should have mentioned that I tasted bacon once in high school and it’s been the one meat I have gone back to. Rarely, but I do). So I ate a BLT and it was delicious. I had an upset stomach afterwards but not too bad, and the craving was satisfied. Overall it seemed worth it.

Thank you for sharing this, I feel the same way. I’m 16 weeks and know my belly is mostly brownies, and it beyond weird when my family asks to see it.

On another note, my wife and I are also minimalists and are thinking about asking for small worrks of art for the baby’s room, diapers, or thrifted items. My mother in law is already getting us 18 month clothes…,

I’m pregnant with our second and so there isn’t a lot of stuff we need (and yeah we ended up with more than the essentials for the first, but we weren’t sure what we needed so we rolled with it). This time around we’re asking for postpartum support. There’s a great postpartum doula in our area and a group of our friends and family are contributing to a fund so we can get that extra help. I highly recommend it, especially if you are far from family and/or don’t have a super strong support network. Just an idea! 🙂